Life:Powered

Life:Powered

Background

Life:Powered (LifePowered.org) is a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) designed to “ensure that Americans continue to benefit from abundant, reliable, safe, and clean energy” and to “reframe the discussion about energy sources” including fossil fuels. [1]

In February 2018, TPPFbrought on Bernard McNamee to lead the Life:Powered project and also to head TPPF’s Center for Tenth Amendment Action. According to its 2017 annual report, Life:Powered was originally TPPF’s “Fueling Freedom” project, which launched in 2015 “to combat the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.” [2], [3]

McNamee most recently worked as deputy general counsel for energy policy under Secretary Rick Perry at the Department of Energy and has also advised Texas senator Ted Cruz. [2]

“In 2018, we’ll be taking the project to a new level, expanding it to cover every aspect of the policies that promote abundant, reliable, and affordable energy to power modern life,” the report’s message from the President and the Chair noted. [3]

Stance on Climate Change

May 4, 2018

Life:Powered promotes articles critical of a carbon tax as a solution to climate change, generally linking to research done by TPPF. One example is an article by Vance Ginn that links to research by John Cristy to suggest “there’s little conclusive evidence to prove that carbon dioxide emissions cause environmental harm.” [5]

“Finally, perhaps most importantly, there is little to no evidence that there is a need to reduce carbon emissions in this country. For all of these reasons, and many more, the proposed carbon tax should be whole-heartedly rejected.”

2018

“Human flourishing depends on energy use, often in invisible and unnoticed ways. A reliable energy supply can feed the hungry, take care of the sick, and ensure a prosperous economic future for society. It promotes freedom and independence around the world and right here at home,” the Life:Powered website reads. [6]

The Texas Public Policy Foundation features a “Life:Powered” playlist in its YouTube channel that promotes “The Moral Case For Fossil Fuels” by Alex Epstein, as well as a panel presentation by the CO2 Coalition promoting the supposed benefits of boosting atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. View the playlist below:

Funding

The following funding values are for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the parent organization of Life:Powered.

When President Donald Trump issued an executive order to revise or rescind the Clean Power Plan, Nasi described it as “a crucial win for Texas and the nation.” He is also a partner of the law firm Jackson Walker LLP where he founded the firm's “Climate Change and Carbon Management group.” [10], [11]

Bernard McNamee — Initially listed as project lead until moving to a position at DOE. [2]

Bernard L. McNamee was initially listed as project lead for the Life:Powered project in February 2018, however according to his LinkedIn he left that position in May 2018 to become Executive Director at the Office of Policy for the Department of Energy (DOE). McNamee worked for the DOE as Deputy General Counsel for Energy Policy since May 2017, and as Senior Counsel to the law firm McGuireWoods LLP before that. [12]

Kathleen Hartnett-White is the distinguished senior fellow-in-residence and director of the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). Hartnett White previously worked as Chairman and Commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Prior to 2001, she served as then-Governor George W. Bush's appointee to the Texas Water Development Board, where she sat until appointed to TCEQ. [13]

Other People

As of August 2018, TPPF was actively hiring for positions including “Project Coordinator” and “Policy Analyst” for the Life:Powered project. [18]

Actions

August 7, 2018

S&P Global reported that Life:Powered screened two videos at the American Coal Council's Coal Market Strategies conference in New Mexico that would be part of an upcoming campaign. [8]

Michael Nasi, who is reportedly leading the effort, said the videos “aim to educate an 'extremely under-informed' public on fossil fuels.” [8]

“We have failed as both a coal industry, a power industry and obviously other fossil industries and the nuclear industry because we have failed to get together to message together,” said Nasi. [8]

Also speaking at the conference, Luke Popovich, former spokesman for the National Mining Association, discussed industry tactics with regards to climate change: [8]

“It's too late for denial when your customers, the ratepayers, the banks, and regulators already believe climate change is real,” Popovich said. “Accepting that climate change is real merely opens the discussion with the public.”

Rather, a message on how fossil fuels could be a “humanitarian tool”— so-called “energy poverty” has long been a talking point of industry — would be a primary focus of the Life:Powered videos. [8]

“Over 1 billion people do not have any electricity,” retired Penn State University Professor Frank Clemente said in one of the videos. “That's only the tip of the iceberg. About 2.5 billion people only have limited access to electric power. You're closing on almost half of the population of the world are living in energy poverty and that's why I say it is the leading problem facing mankind today.” [8] Clemente has regularly consulted for the energy industry, and has said he has “written, spoken and testified quite a bit on coal's importance to the quality of life around the world.”

Other Resources

"Fossil-fuel companies have spent millions funding anti-global-warming think tanks, purposely creating a climate of doubt around the science. DeSmogBlog is the antidote to that obfuscation." ~ BRYAN WALSH, TIME MAGAZINE